Palestinian woman denied sharia divorce rights – Lebanon

Aziza lived in her parental home until she moved to Beirut. After getting married she lived there for 23 years with her husband and his children from a previous marriage. When Aziza fell ill in 2007 her husband – who wanted to marry for the third time – told her she was no longer useful to him. She left home the same day. She was divorced before the Sunni sharia court in Saida and attended court every day for seven months in pursuit of her claim for payment of the mahr of five million Lebanese pounds which she had been promised on her marriage. Her husband refused to pay and the judge ruled that he could pay half. Aziza did not have a copy of the marriage contract setting out her entitlements. Neither did she have a lawyer because she did not have money to pay the fees.

“Now the courts are giving nothing to women. A court is for men because the judges do not support women. I blame the judge because he did not help me.”

Aziza believes it is important for women to own their own houses or a share in a house.

“I don’t have my own house. I wish to have my own place, for me. There’s no way to do that, no money, nothing. I just wish.”